Adam Drinks Beer
Salud!
It was not until I spent a year in Belgium that I truly discovered the wonder and possibility of beer. The variety and complexity was nearly overwhelming, and I found myself needing to learn more. Thus I drink beer, many beers, different beers, so that others may also know the depth of creativity and tastiness of this most versatile beverage.
I am by no means an expert on beer, but I do love to try every new kind I can get my hands on. This blog is my attempt to record the beers I have tasted, support the breweries, and redistribute all of the knowledge that I have and will gain.
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@3Floyds Dark Lord Photo Set part 4.
Well unless I find some stragglers this will be the final photo set from Dark Lord Day. Twas quite an adventure, and I’m glad I brought my camera again this year to take some pics.
Bourbon County Vanilla…. I think I need to try this one again because I either missed the hype or I’m 3 years too late. Not nearly as much vanilla as I was expecting, but again… it has been a while.
The brisket was definitely sub-par in my opinion. Loaded with fat, tough and chewy, definitely not work the $$$. I recommend sticking to the safer burger-like options, or bringing a cooler with some food and leaving it in the car for lunch time.
Gotta love the dude on the cooler-keg-mobile. What a way to serve up some tasty beer!
So many boxes!!! I know it’s probably the best way to have the beer stored prior to DLD, but with so much wasted cardboard that is just gonna get opened I wish there was another way… if only for those poor employees’ sake.
Alright… guy on the fence…. Sooooo this guy was thoroughly trashed about half the day, staggering from place to place usually with the help of his buddy. Honestly, I was afraid he was going to spew which would therefore make me blow chunks by association, ya know? How it didn’t happen I have no idea, but we sure did have fun trying to avoid him in line!
Finally… the silhouettes of tired, cold and increasingly frustrated folks wanting simply to get their allotment and get the heck out. I owe the idea for the pick to the guy behind me in line, so if you’re reading this, thanks dude!
It was such an amazing day, but I’m sad that the last 5 hours were spent in line. If I was alone I don’t think I could’ve made it. Considering how this year was INFINITELY better I’ll totally cut them some slack, but hey, at least they’ve only got one major thing to iron out next year. Piece of cake right?
Cheers!
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@3Floyds Dark Lord Photo Set part 3.
Good friends and good beer are a recipe for awesomeness. I’m fortunate not only to have a love for beer, but also to have people around me to share the experience with. Beer friends are some of the most generous people you will ever meet, and without them I wouldn’t have tasted half of the amazing beers that I have.
The beers being held forth are Barrel Aged Cherry Behemoth and Kuhnhenn Bourbon Barrel French Toast. If you’ve ever had French Toast Crunch cereal (which they don’t make anymore) then you’ll love this beer. Kuhnhenn definitely makes some of the most interestingly flavored beers out there.
And finally…. the Dude abides….. ;) Saw this sweet sticker on the car next to where we were doing some tasting.
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@3Floyds Dark Lord Photo Set part 2.
One of the most memorable things about the 3 Floyds brewery has got to be their artwork. Every single beer, without fail, has some interesting, crazy and even creepy artwork that makes it stand out on the shelf. Not that you’ll find many on the shelf…. Blink and chances are they’re sold out at your local purveyor of crafty delights.
I feel like someone once said, and if it was someone famous let me know (so I can feel like an idiot for not remembering), that one of the things that separates us from the animals is that we naturally know to get in lines. I don’t know how or why we have this intrinsic knowledge, but if you want to be an elite line-stander and can’t afford the ticket to Disney… look no further than Munster, IN. on Dark Lord Day.
The beer featured above was a Peche n’ Brett from Logsdon brewing. It gets a lot of hype, and is rated 98 on Beer Advocate, but it didn’t quite get me there. Maybe if it was super chilled it would’ve been better. Mine was a little warmer than I’d have liked.
The gentleman on the grass was passed out next to a police car. Classic.Being a big fan of Belgium, I saw the Westvleteren bottle cap earrings and just had to ask for a picture to show the world. Not only do these people love beer, they are also extremely creative. Finally, the Alpha King stationed right out front marks the entrance to the brewery.
Stay tuned for part 3.
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@3Floyds Dark Lord Photo Set part 1.
Dark Lord is not only a celebration of the release of one of the most sought after craft beers in America. It is also a place where people from all over the country gather to share and trade beer, exchange stories, and become fast friends.
My brother and I had group E tickets, courtesy of my friends Nikko and Felicia (seen above), which meant we weren’t lining up for our beer until 5:30pm. When did we arrive? 8am. Half the fun of the day is that period standing in line with total strangers, sharing some of the best brews you were able to bring. Luckily my brother lives in CA, so he brought a couple of Russian River growlers. Nothing like fresh Pliny in the morning!
The wax tipped bottle was B.A. Topless Wytch, a very tasty baltic porter. The guy with the giant stein was just some random dude in line that let me take his picture. Look at the size of that thing! (that’s what she said)
Part 2 coming soon.
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@3Floyds Dark Lord Day 2013. #craftbeer #Dark Lord
I have a fair amount of pics that I’ll be slowly leaking out over this week. Thought I’d kick off the series with some thoughts on the day.
So another Dark Lord Day has come and gone, making this my second time to one of the biggest bottle release parties in craft beer. They nearly knocked it out of the park too. Not only was the weather FANTASTIC for 80% of the day, but they also hired organizers and volunteers. Instead of having the whole darn thing crammed into the parking lot and property of 3 Floyds, the festival stretched across the street into an additional lot with outdoor stage, merch, food, and several beer tapping hubs. Also, there was a lot more parking with many of the lots donating proceeds to school groups or charity. I was able to get there a mere 2 hours early (which for DLD is kinda late) and park in a lot almost right next to the brewery.
Thus for the morning, drinking in line with friends, and well into the afternoon hanging out, having food and sharing some rare brews, we all had a very good time. Then came the line to purchase our Dark Lord (3 bottles this year, down from 4). While things seemed like they might be better this year with 5 groups instead of 3, and some separation between them….. it just didn’t happen. Now I don’t know how well the first few groups made it through, but we poor souls stuck in group E were in line for a little over 3 hours. Coincidentally the sky clouded over and a cool breeze started to roll in making the line fairly chilly. I’m not sure how they could’ve fixed this short of setting up two separate distribution lines or just adding a crap ton more people, but it did cap off the evening on a slightly sour note.
So with aching feet and fond memories of the mostly glorious day we hurried to the car and made our way home. These guys really listened to their fans and stepped up their game big time. If they could find a way to make that line a little smoother…. they’d be batting 1.000.
**NOTE: This year’s Dark Lord is amazing! Most of us agree it’s much better than last year.**
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Most beautiful DLD! #craftbeer #3floyds
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My new beer table. #craftbeer #awesome
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Nice stout from @BigMuddyBrewing. Finally a Vanilla Stout that has vanilla as advertised! A solid brew that I’d really like to try on tap. I’m looking forward to finding some time to visit. It’s too bad that Illinois is such a loooooong state.
Anyone have any suggestions for other good vanilla forward beers?
Disclaimer: I have been spoiled at a tasting with @3floyds BBA Dark Lord w/Vanilla Beans. Bar is set a little high…. So delicious. -
I have to say I’m a bit underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, it was a decent beer, but I think I suffer from high expectations when it comes to 3 Floyds. I’m not a brewer, so I’m not going to start preaching, I mean these guys are great at what they do and have a huge following…. but I’m starting to discover that with FFF there is a large disparity between AMAZING beers… and very average ones.
It was worth a taste, but not very memorable.
